Millionaire who bought $2M Nantucket beach house for just $200K reveals why it was a ‘terrible investment’
A Connecticut millionaire who purchased a stunning $2 million beachfront home in Nantucket for just $200,000 is now reeling over his ‘terrible investment.’
Just over six months after Don Vaccaro, CEO of TicketNetwork – an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of tickets to live events – signed the paperwork on his new coastal Nantucket mansion, the waterfront home was demolished.
The breathtaking three-bedroom home was torn down on Tuesday after the 28 Sheep Pond Road residence was condemned by the town after the coast eroded to within just five feet of the structure, according to a filing by the town’s conservation commission.
The waterfront property was not-surprisingly valued at $1.9 million last year by the town’s assessor, however, Vaccaro spent only $200,000 on the sprawling home.
Yet, even with the one-of-a-kind deal, Vaccaro told Business Insider that the home’s upkeep cost him ‘several hundred thousand more.’
In hindsight, Vaccaro, 62, called his purchase of 28 Sheep Pond Road a ‘terrible investment.’
‘Not only the $400,000, but the time suck of having to deal with it,’ Vaccaro wrote in an email to BI.
Vaccaro cautioned other beachfront homeowners to ‘think seriously’ about erosion strategies, like planting sea grass, to avoid a similar fate.
A Connecticut millionaire who purchased a stunning $2 million beachfront home in Nantucket for just $200,000 is now reeling over his ‘terrible investment’
The breathtaking three-bedroom home was torn down on Tuesday after the 28 Sheep Pond Road home was condemned by the town after the coast eroded to within just five feet of the structure, according to a filing by the town’s conservation commission
Don Vaccaro, 62, called his purchase of 28 Sheep Pond Road a ‘terrible investment’
Even as the TicketNetwork CEO followed the town’s condemnation order, he still believes 46-year-old home could’ve lasted longer before it finally fell into the ocean.
‘I hoped to have the summer of 2025, but that will not happen,’ he wrote.
By the end of the week, what remains of the house will either be turned into gravel or packed up and sent to a contractor to handle the disposal off-island, BI reported.
Now, as the effects of climate change become increasingly evident, buying a home on the luxurious island, known for attracting the ultrawealthy, is a gamble.
In recent years, erosion has led to the demolition of a handful of properties, many once valued at multiple millions of dollars.
Other residents have even spent seven figures to move their home away from eroding bluffs.
According to the island’s 2021 Coastal Resilience Plan, over the next 50 years, sea level rise, coastal flooding, and erosion are estimated to cause over $3.4 billion in cumulative damages to Nantucket.
The 1700-square-foot home’s previous owners, Jane Carlin and Ben Gifford, who purchased their dream getaway on Nantucket’s west end in 1988, struggled to say goodbye to their home of 36 years.
‘It was so emotional the other day leaving the house for the last time,’ Carlin said.
‘But we are really just fortunate also. I’m not feeling sorry for myself at all. Given the dire housing situation on Nantucket, we’re just grateful for the time we had there.’
Carlin also said finding a buyer for her threatened home was a challenge as she had tried, lucklessly to find a new owner.
‘All winter I had been really frantically trying to see if any of the organizations would consider taking the house and moving it, and we would help with the cost of moving,’ she said.
‘I didn’t want to see it fall into the ocean or get demolished. But I had no luck whatsoever.’
The saddened couple were inexplicably grateful for Vaccaro’s ‘surprise purchase’ calling the buy a ‘miracle.’
A photo released by the Nantucket Natural Resources Department shows properties sitting precariously on eroded cliffs
A group of homeowners in Nantucket recently lost a battle to keep a self-funded ‘shield’ they erected to keep homes safe from the sea. Pictured: A flooded home on the island
‘You don’t want to sell to someone when you know a storm could take it out next week,’ Carlin said when asked why they didn’t put the house on the market.
‘We wanted to be ethical and honest about it. Then this miracle dropped from the sky above and we sold it to him for nothing.’
Vaccaro, who rents out his adjacent property for up to $13,000 per week, was well aware about his new acquisition’s fate – but had hoped he could ‘get creative’ with the acquisition.
‘The house may not last more than six months,’ Vaccaro said in July. ‘Inevitably the ocean will win. The house is only temporary, everything in life is temporary.’
‘Since we own 26 Sheep Pond Road there are some creative things we can do to extend the life of the house and even if the house is destroyed we may have additional land,’ he said.
‘We also plan to implement some erosion mitigation strategies that will likely extend the time before the house becomes inhabitable. The easiest is sea grass planting – which should be done within weeks. The second is V-shaped, low-height (less than 1 foot) bio-degradable silt fencing, which has been successful in a few other areas to a degree.’
However, none of the millionaire’s efforts proved successful as his home is now in ruins.
